Prologue
It is a dark time for the galaxy. Law & order are being threatened by the so-called Rebellion. Using terror, propaganda, & hit-and-run military tactics, these "freedom fighters" have gained a foothold since the end of the Clone Wars 17 years ago by allying themselves with former fractions & hold-outs of the defeated Confederacy of Independent Systems and other terror and militant groups that oppose the Galactic Empire's peaceful rule on it's galactic citizens. It is 2 years before the stunning security breach at the Imperial Security Complex on Scarif and the resulting fateful destruction of the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin (0 BBY). The Empire rules the galaxy. The Core Worlds, Inner Rim, & Colonies benefit from the Empire's rule and bath in luxury and safety, while the corrupt & ineffective Galactic Republic and the disgraced Jedi Order are nothing more than a footnote in the wealth & prosperity of these firmly gripped Imperial regions. Pirates, smugglers, militant groups, terror organizations, & Rebellion cells consume the lawlessness beyond the battle-torn Mid Rim (the last outer bastion of Imperial military might) in the Western Reaches & Outer Rim Territories. Rebel propaganda & lies leaves many in these Regions to believe that the Empire has abandoned them, much like the Galactic Republic did, and even worse that the Empire exploits them for territorial expansion, wealth, raw materials, and even slave labor. The Expansion Region reference is a hopeless, dark hot-bed of warfare between militant groups & terror organizations against the Empire. For Imperial Naval Officer Commodore Peter Englewood & Imperial Stormtrooper Master Sergeant DW-418121 (Animal), the Empire is the truth from the ashes of the Galactic Republic. One serves as the top Naval Officer aboard the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Darkest Night, while the other serves as a member of the faceless Stormtrooper Corps. One served as a young Ensign for the Galactic Republic's Judicial Forces before the start of the Clone Wars and later served the Republic Navy in the war; the horrors of the Clone Wars showed him that the Empire was the only way for peace. The other was a young 14 year-old boy whose life was in shambles & the Sub-Adult Group of the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order (COMPNOR) came in and gave him purpose & meaning from the darkness of a Corellian orphanage. One saw the inner decay and political corruptness of the Galactic Republic before the Clone Wars, while the other saw the Empire as saviors & heroes from his plight & suffering in an orphanage. Both are about to become traitors to the Empire they serve so faithfully. The question is, at what cost? And what will it cost others under their Command? When men and women of the galaxy mustered courage enough to put aside their differences and come together to fight for a cause greater than themselves, that's when life had meaning. At times like these. That's why they simply had to succeed, too much depended on them. - greyjedi125, aka "Winterkill" in Star Wars: Intervention, 2011 Category:Prologue